Apple chief executive Tim Cook said that there should not have to be a trade-off between national security and personal privacy.
Posted on 02/13/2015 5:07:05 PM PST by Swordmaker
Summary:The Apple boss said people have entrusted the company with their most personal bits of information. "We owe them nothing less than the best protections we can possibly provide."
In a speech as part of a cybersecurity summit hosted by The White House at Stanford University, the Apple boss said history has shown that sacrificing rights to privacy can have "dire consequences" on society.
"We risk something far more valuable than money. We risk our way of life," he said.
"We shouldn't have to trade our security for all of this information at our fingertips. When a system is designed properly, security and convenience can actually work in harmony," he added.
The summit is President Obama's opportunity to make the case for a collaborative approach to protecting private industry from cyberattacks at a cybersecurity summit at Stanford University.
Obama signed an executive order Friday allowing private companies and technology firms to share more cyber-threat data with each other and government agencies. It comes in the wake of recent high profile hacks against Sony Pictures and health insurance firm Anthem.
But Cook was the only Silicon Valley chief executive to attend the cybersecurity summit, with leaders from Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Facebook choosing to send senior security executives in their places -- possibly because of continued anger over historical government intrusions into their systems.
Cook's critique comes almost two years after NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden disclosed wide-ranging domestic surveillance programs that tapped data from Silicon Valley companies. Apple was named in the leaked slides that detailed the PRISM surveillance program.
"Our customers' trust means everything to us. And we've spent decades earning that trust," Cook said.
He also reiterated the company's business model is not focused on collecting user data or selling that information to advertisers or third-parties.
"We know hackers are trying everything they can to steal your data," Cook said. "The personal impact on these breaches can be devastating."
In other news, Cook -- signaling a thawing of relations with the government -- said Apple Pay will later this year allow mobile payments from federal institutions, like national parks.
What percentage of Apple's workforce, direct and contracted, are US citizens?
Waiting to see if the question that was asked gets answered, or if the answer is to some other question that wasn't asked.
Okay ... but you should know by now. It’s been repeated numerous times! We’ll waith though, and get it repeated once more!
Then we'll find out exactly how much "HUMONGOUS" is. Which will be interesting, giving that the answer to that question cannot be more than 100.
Please enlighten us on the American-made devices that you apparently own.
Anyway, why would any American company want to manufacture such sophisticated devices here? Are you aware of the taxes and regulations that U.S. companies are subjected to when they manufacture here? Maybe we can address that with the government.
Then you have the labor unions, looking to attach themselves, like leeches, to any U.S. company daring to put manufacturing jobs in the U.S.
Lastly, many people seem to have a quaint "Laverne & Shirley" idea about what manufacturing jobs are actually like. It's not like the TV shows or Bruce Springsteen songs. Factories are not pleasant places to work. I certainly wouldn't want that for my children. Fortunately however, even those Chinese factory workers will soon have better career choices to aspire to. Robotics are quickly automating the factories of the world and it will no longer be necessary for humans to be directly involved in manufacture. This will continue to drive costs down even more, as robots don't call in sick, bitch and complain, get hurt, and form unions.
There wasn't any qualifications about what the company manufactures in the post I responded to. It simply wished that all American companies would follow Apple's lead and do what they do.
That would mean offshoring virtually all of our manufacturing capacity, for everything.
I guess you’re OK with butt rumpers & communists/fascists....good to know.
It's easy enough to pull up a search in Google and on the first few pages of results, you get your answer. Though a lot of the results are from left-wing publications chiding Apple for not hiring enough minorities. I guess Whites and Asians represent the majority of Apple workers. But that speaks more to the skill set of the minorities than anything else. If more Blacks and Hispanics hit the books and worked hard instead of hanging out in the streets listening to rap music, taking drugs and starting trouble, I'm sure they would have better representation in the Apple ranks.
BTW, all other high tech firms such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc., have the same ethic representation. Mostly White and Asians, who are stereotyped as being good at math as well as studying and working hard, so no surprises here.
So let me quote directly from Forbes magazine here. As of end of 2013, Apple was directly employing 70,000 people, 47,000 of which worked in the U.S. So American workers represent 67% of the total Apple workforce. Which surprised even me because Apple has such an international presence. With huge Apple markets in Asia, China and Europe, it stands to reason that Apple would have a lot of their people working abroad.
Also in the U.S., Apple indirectly created 257,000 other U.S. jobs at other companies that touch and support its products. What many people don't realize is that other major companies, such as Google, IBM, AT&T, Microsoft, etc., have entire departments of employees that would not exist if not for the Apple product lines that they support.
Now I'm no Apple expert, so others might want to jump in to provide more detail, but I was able to pull that up in seconds on a Google search.
The question asked was:
What percentage of Apple's workforce, direct and contracted, are US citizens?
I have no idea. But I can tell you that any American graduating from a major school with an engineering degree is being snapped up by the high tech industry, and not just Apple. We can’t mint engineers here fast enough.
That is poor reporting. Apple is not in a position to "allow" anyone to use ApplePay. ApplePay is not handled on a "Let's ask Apple's permission to use ApplePay" it is merely the need to use NFC enabled pay points and not block ApplePay from being used. It is the banks and credit card systems that determine if they will use ApplePay. What was news was that the US Government credit cards would be using ApplePay. However, it is not any sign of such a "thawing."
That's a recent change then. But I maintain that you cannot order "PARTS" from Apple and pick them up locally. Parts are shipped only Apple authorized repair locations.
You could pickup at the local store but it had to be scheduled for at least one day after ordering. I've done it. They've tightened it up if they can do it on the same day now.
You say Forbes attributes 257,000 jobs, direct and indirect to Apple. Here's a link to a story I was given yesterday where Apple is claiming over a million.
Trying to get to the bottom of exactly how many jobs Apple has actually created for American workers seems to dead end at "It's HUMONGOUS, so shut up!"
Nah, he's seen them. He's a troll giving you a hard time. He's really not interested in seeing the numbers. It wouldn't make a iota of difference to post them. The fact is that Apple is an international business. It has a huge number of employees in the US. . . the vast majority of the US citizens. It has another smaller number of employees in other countries where it has a corporate presence where those employees will be citizens of those countries and also US citizens.
The others who manufacture some of Apple's products are not Apple employees at all. They are employees of the companies that are contracted to Apple to do that manufacturing. . . and these trolls lump them in under Apple's umbrella, assuming they are Apple employees and controlled by Apple.
Apple attempts to improve the working conditions for these contractor's employees as best they can by constructing their contracts to require that the employees be treated under certain pay rates and conditions. Apple has its own employees who monitor working conditions at all of its downline of suppliers for contract compliance. No other in the industry goes to that length to assure that workers are treated well. . . but Apple is the one attacked when a violation is found.
What's your point?
What's your point?
Is it really, or are they actually doing more for China's economy than they are for ours?
It could have been a stock issue. Don’t know. But for my store at least, you’ve been able to order and pickup the same day for some time.
And yeah, other than mice and cables and such, to parts available. Although I’ve never had need for parts.
KMA!. I needed two HDMI adaptors with 5 foot cable made by belkin. I called the store in Grand Rapids, MI who then forwarded me to the online store who
required me to purchase them then over the phone in order to reserve the parts which I needed that day and drove 60 miles to pickup.
Call me a liar? Post your email address jack ass and I’ll post the Apple store conformation email they sent once the order processed!
Yeah right absolutely no correlation.. seriously!
Then along comes a apple groupie suggesting it be best to use apple’s financial system. Hmmm
Kinda like the mob suggesting it would be a shame if I didn’t pay for protection and my house burns down.
No thanks!
Apple Pay clearly the absolute best protection that one can have (of anything available today), to shield and protect your personal information from getting into any other hands, except the very bank itself that pays on your transaction. That is so ... by the very design of the system itself!
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